Embers
by Chase Ravencroft Tilton
Summary: After the fire is gone, the embers still remain, waiting to be used once more, for a chance to bring the blaze back to life. Multiple perspectives & glimpses into the minds of those who fight for a new Amestris - & those who fight simply for their lives.


_A/N:_

'Ello loves, Chase here. Still on hiatus with Demon's Daughter, due to personal issues, a lack of motivation, and writer's block. So, to keep my juices going, I'm writing this little almost-fic for my other obsession, FMA! Huzzah!

This is going to be a collection of 100 single sentences, each focusing on a different aspect of particular characters. There are multiple implied pairings here, multiple perspectives, and multiple interpretations. Most of these can fic in the First Animeverse, but I intend for them to be read as though they're all Mangaverse. This single-sentence style was something I came across in a wonderful KH fanfic that I can't remember the name of right now, but I will post the name of it in the next part, because it's bloody amazing and should be read!

Anyway, let's get started with this first 25, shall we? As usual, feedback is appreciated, flames are totally accepted, and I hope you enjoy.

-Chase

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_Embers_

_Part 1_

1) When Roy is promoted to Colonel, Maes is there with one of Gracia's apple pies, huge grin on his face as always; he wraps his old friend in a one-armed hug, and mutters "one rank closer."

2) Riza will never forget the "rain" that fell the day they buried Maes Hughes – hard to forget when water comes from fire.

3) "Everyone I care for ends up ruined – " Roy whispers into his wine glass, "first Hughes, then Havoc…" he trails off, almost afraid to say aloud the one name that has been echoing in his mind since this all began, afraid of jinxing something, breaking the illusion of safety he's built around her.

4) Gracia loved Maes – he had been there for her since they were young, been her best friend – but sometimes, she wanted to yell at him for leaving just when she needed him most; but he always had been one for grand shows of affection, and his death while trying to lovingly aid Roy and the Elrics had been no exception.

5) Working with automail made Winry feel good, plain and simple – she helped give people a new chance at life, just as her parents had done, and just as they would want.

6) All that he ever wanted was to honor the family name, but Alex Louis Armstrong never wanted this, the lingering pain from Ishbal; he could never shake the pain out of his strong body.

7) Some nights, while he remains awake, Al tries to remember his mother – her smile, her laughter, her scent – but no matter how hard he tries, he always ends up back at the memory of her death, and he can only see the image of her strength fading away as he and Ed helplessly cling to one another.

8) He was destined for greatness once, despite being born a slave; but Hohenheim just wants to be normal, just a human – to die, and finally be with Trisha again.

9) No one can quite decide what to make of Solf J. Kimblee, so beautiful on the outside, but so empty inside; monster or man, they ask – but under the surface, he is something in between.

10) She almost never misses a shot, and her hand is steady – she is a picture of calm; but when Riza aims for Lust, believing her colonel dead, she is nothing but rage, and for the first time since Ishbal, her hands shake.

11) Winry never noticed when Ed grew so tall, but she likes the change – maybe now she can consider him more than a friend.

12) His friends need him, Jean thinks to himself as the truck leaves, full of ammo – Roy needs him, and he hopes that his help arrives in time.

13) Lan Fan did not flinch when she cut off her own arm – it was necessary to protect her prince; but when she sees the bloody bandages in the mirror, reminding her of her failure to protect him…then she cries.

14) Izumi warned the Elrics to never toy with human transmutation, but they didn't listen, and part of her can't stop thinking that had she been more of a mother to them, it never would have happened – she failed a child yet again.

15) Trisha Elric always smiled, no matter what she felt inside; she missed Hohenheim, but she believed in him, and when he did return home, she would be ready…or that had been the plan.

16) King Bradley has not been human for years, and he feels nothing genuinely – but he chose his wife, a human – he chose her.

17) Rebecca teases Riza about her affections – or lack thereof – for Roy; but Riza only smiles at this, never answers, and returns to Roy's side silently, gun ready to draw.

18) Olivier kept Miles by her side when the orders for extermination were given, and he wonders why the Ice Queen spared him; when he lets her go to Central to make her move, he wishes that he could now do the same for her.

19) Roy rarely addresses Riza as anything but her rank or one of her codenames in person – but when he's in his bed at night, when he lets himself unwind, he'll whisper her name with a shudder and gasp, and wonder at how sweet it sounds to his ears.

20) She can still feel his arms around her when she closes her eyes, feel the cold twang of his automail against her skin on one side and the warmth of his flesh on the other; Winry has hope that the cold will go away someday.

21) Havoc still manages to smile, even though it's no longer the same – he can't quite make it come to his eyes anymore – and it's because he knows that Roy needs something to dull the guilt he feels that he keeps right on smiling through it all.

22) Riza holds Roy as the medics rush in to save him, and does not let go when they ask the first time; she is dragged off of him as he fades to unconsciousness, almost hysterical once more, but maintains her calm for the sake of following orders – he already scolded her once for losing her cool, and she doesn't want to hear it again.

23) Al still dreams, despite never sleeping; he dreams of sights and sounds, not as he still experiences them, but as he used to, and sometimes, if he thinks hard enough, he can almost recall the warmth of the sun.

24) It's only when Pinako sees the strength that Ed and Al must have to carry on each day that she feels old – little children should not grow up so fast, she thinks.

25) He's not useless in water – it only takes a spark and fuel to make a fire, and Roy Mustang can use anything – do anything – to keep himself in a fight till the end.


End file.
